Soba Noodles w/ Veggies & Mustard Soy Dressing

Ugh, and I have to cook dinner?! is exactly what went through my mind last night. I spent all afternoon in class, then in lab, then had to go grocery shopping and make dinner. I really just wanted to crawl in bed and call it a day. 

I was trying to think of what was in my cupboards and what was cheap to make. 

I found this jewel on Pinterest. 

Pinterest - solving what's for dinner since 2011. Or 2010? Whatever year...it's saved me again. 

 

I had unopened soba noodles in the cupboard. I went on an oriental food kick awhile ago and never got around to opening them. I do this with food quite often. In some cases it ends horribly...moldy, smelly and turns into some liquid which would leave you wondering what it was in the first place. Oops. 

Luckily that wasn't the case this time. It also led to a pretty good dinner and so fast to make! I'm a happy camper. However, it was a tad salty for my liking, but my hubby loved it. Sadly, he needed more then this little bit. It's enough to feed 2 people, but he usually eats twice as much as the normal person. 

 Soba Noodles with Veggies & Mustard-Soy Dressing (The Greatist)

 3-4oz soba noodles
1 red pepper
2 scallions
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids, it's healthier than soy sauce, but probably why it was a tad on the salty side)
1/2 tsp mustard
1tsp honey
dash of black pepper
red pepper flakes (optional) - I used them, be careful how much you add, but I recommend adding some

Cook soba noodles according to directions on package. Drain and rinse and place in the fridge to cool.
While soba noodles cool, gut the red pepper and cut into thin strips. Cut scallions, too.
In a bowl, whisk soy sauce, mustard, honey, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
Add noodles and scallions and pepper to the sauce and gently mix together.
Eat up!

Enjoy your Monday!

Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi

I haven't been in the kitchen much lately. I hate to admit it. I really miss it though.

That's what I get for taking summer classes.

Anyway, last night was the first night this week that I wasn't drowning in homework, so I got to cook dinner!

 Awhile ago when I was at World Market, I picked up some gnocchi. I never tried it before, but I love pasta and potatoes...so how could I go wrong?

 I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs and it seemed easy enough and it was quick, so why not? Quick as in around 15 minutes. Beat that Rachel Ray!

It's the perfect comfort food. Especially after a long week. 

Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi slightly modified from How Sweet Eats.

1 pound whole wheat gnocchi (I used regular, tastes just fine too)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced (I add extra, I love garlic!)

2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1/3 cup white wine (I dumped in a bit extra)

1/2 cup heavy (or light) cream

1/4 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese + more for topping

fresh parsley for garnish

salt and pepper

Start boiling water for gnocchi.
Heat skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion and garlic and a dash of salt and pepper. Saute until onion is soft. Add garlic and mushroom. Saute until mushrooms are soft.
Dump gnocchi in boiling water and cook as directed on packaging.
Add wine to onion/mushroom mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cream and stir. Turn heat off and stir in parmesan.
Drain gnocchi when it's done cooking. Then mix with sauce.
Top with parmesan and chopped parsley.
Enjoy!

When I remake this again someday, I will probably double the amount of mushrooms and onions. I felt they cooked down a lot more then I wanted so I didn't get the taste I wanted. Also, that sauce would be great with some asparagus, either on asparagus, or add asparagus to it, or asparagus instead of mushroom. My husband doesn't like mushrooms, he liked this recipe. But for his sake, I may try with asparagus or something next time.

Do you have a favorite gnocchi recipe?

Happy Friday!

Easy Roasted Veggies

I realize I've been MIA the last few days...sorry!

Also, I'll have to admit, I have been eating pretty poorly. Well, veggie burger at Culver's and lots of pasta sort of poorly.

To get back on track, I made roasted veggies. This was a recipe my doctor recommended. The best thing about it is it's easy! Seriously. You basically chop some veggies, put them on a pan and bake for an hour and a half or so. Okay, maybe add some seasonings and oil, but I LOVE this recipe! It's great for the fall or beginning of summer when farmers have a lot of root vegetables.

My father-in-law participates in a CSA (if you don't know about it, check it out here, then check with your local farmers to participate in one, it's fantastic!), which means every week he sends some extra veggies my way since he can't possibly eat that many in a week!

We recently have been getting quite a few carrots, potatoes, a couple beets, lettuce, and maybe some spices. I just wish they'd leave the greens on the beets, because they really help make this recipe. Sadly, my poor beets lost their greens, so I had to do without. The greens are packed with a lot of great nutrients, and they taste so good!

I used a couple potatoes, beets, carrots, onion, and parsnips...since it's what I had. I chose to peel the beets and one potato...why one potato? I don't know, I'm strange. I also found out, I hate parsnips. 

The great thing about this, it doesn't need to be perfect. You want everything relatively the same thickness so they cook evenly, but you just slice and lay them on a pan. Usually you'd see lots of green, no tinfoil, but since I didn't have greens, I had to use tinfoil instead. I think the greens are the best part, they absorb a lot of juices and flavors and I can't explain it, you'll just have to try it sometime. 

Then add some seasonings. I drizzled with olive oil then sprinkles Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Salt, Pepper and Thyme. You can add whatever you like.

Then I decided to add a little balsamic vinegar. I had never tried that on roasted veggies before, and it was pretty delicious!

Put in the oven at 350 and bake for an hour to an hour and a half. You want the beets and carrots to be soft. Then take it out and enjoy!

Roasted Veggies and Greens
1 or 2 bunches of beets with good looking greens (I usually buy extra greens too since I love them so much. I like a fairly thick layer across the bottom, then you don't need to use tinfoil!)
2 onions
4-6 carrots
olive oil
spices
*Feel free to use any extra root veggies you want, like I added parsnips

Cut off the greens, wash them, lay them across the bottom of a pan. Try to make it as even across as possible.
Scrub and peel beets, onions and carrots. If you added extra veggies that need to be prepped, be sure to do that too.
Drizzle olive oil on top, however much you want.
You can also add balsamic vinegar. I'd recommend trying it!
Add your spices, they can include, but are not limited to:
freshly cracked salt and/or pepper
lemon juice
garlic (cloves or chopped)
basil
rosemary
tarragon
lavender
marjoram
thyme
parsley
Then bake at 350 degrees for 1 - 1.5 hours. Beets and carrots should be soft.

A note my doctor included on the handout he gave (I got this recipe at a cooking class he did):
The greens, by the way, are the most nutritious part of your whole meal since they have amazing antioxidant potential and they have one of the highest pheuolic phytonutrients of any vegetable. The beets, onions and carrots will caramelize with the olive oil while baking. There are lots of colors in this dish, so no protein source needs to be added. Your body will hook up all the amino acids in your digestive system and make protein. The beets have a unique phytonutrient called betalain. This promotes liver function and protects from environmental chemicals in a big way. Combine that with the vitamin A found in carrots, the blood sugar balancing effect of the olive oil and onions, as well as its incredible ability to reduce inflammation, you're not just eating food, you're consuming medicine.

When you factor that in, you're eating a pretty amazing meal.
You can add chicken, steak or fish with it, but like he said, it's not necessary.

Incase you're curious, my doctor is Dr. Adrien DenBoer, to see his website click here.

Happy Monday!

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

I have never made, nor had, stuffed peppers before.

So I decided to change that.

I'd say the result was pretty great! Plus they're quick and easy! And they managed to fill my husband, the boy who is never full...they're pretty great!

The best part was they only required me being in the kitchen for a few minutes total, the rest of the time I was free to work on homework or....no, let's face it, I only have homework to do. However, you could use the time to clean, spend time with your kidlets, or whatever you need to do!

The peppers are gut free! I would have had 6, except one of the peppers was starting to mold on the inside! Disgusting I know!

Then you scoop in the guts you made. I ended up with extra fillings since I was a pepper short. But it tastes delish on chips, so we put it to good use!

Put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes and you get this tasty goodness!

 I thought the hubby didn't want cheese, which meant I didn't pick up any at the store. He thought we still had some, but I used it all for a Lazy Man's Lasagna (which will be on the blog in a day or so), so we went vegan for the night.

Stuffed Peppers

6 medium-large peppers (whatever colors you prefer)
1 cup dried rice*
cilantro
olive oil
small - medium onion diced.
couple cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn off the cob
1 can black beans
1 can enchilada sauce (or the equivalent homemade enchilada sauce)
cumin
chili powder
(any other spices you might like, I threw in paprika, salt and pepper)
dash of hot sauce (I was out of normal hot sauce, so I used Sriracha which gave it a nice smokey flavor)
cheese (optional - any kind of monterey-jack, mexican blend, mozzarella, etc would be great!)
meat (you could throw in some seasoned and cooked steak or chicken, if you choose)

Cook rice according to the package instructions, I add some chopped cilantro to the water when I add rice. I also use oil instead of butter to keep it vegan.
Once rice is done cooking, add about a tablespoon olive oil to frying pan on medium heat, add onion and garlic and spices and saute until cooked. (I just dump spices in, I'm really sorry if you can't cook that way, I've always been like that and so far no mistakes. You can always start small and add more to the mixture if it's not the desired taste you want. I'd say I used about 1-2 teaspoons of cumin, chili powder, and paprika.) 
Mix the rice, enchilada sauce, garlic & onion mixture, beans (I drained and rinsed mine, but not necessary), and corn in one of the pans. Check the taste, add whatever seasonings or sauce you need to make it taste great!
Cut the peppers about an inch from the stem and clean out the guts. If the peppers cannot stand without toppling over, cut off as little from the bottom as you can to get them to stand straight. You don't want any holes down there!
Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers. Stand the peppers in a pan (no cheese yet) and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Then sprinkle with cheese (if you're going to) and bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese melts. If you're not adding cheese, you're done after the peppers are tender!

It's as simple as that! We ate some Tostitos Hint of Lime chips with ours and it was perfect. I missed the lime in there. So if I wasn't going to eat lime chips, I probably would have squirted some lime on there.

You could always serve them with guacamole or whatever else you can think of. This was basically what was in my kitchen, but there are many ways to make these.

Happy Hump Day! The weekend is almost here!